Oregon Route 99W

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Oregon Route 99W is a state-numbered route in Oregon, United States that runs from Oregon Route 99 and Oregon Route 99E in Junction City north to Interstate 5 in southwestern Portland. (Some signage continues it north to U.S. Route 26 near downtown, but most signage agrees with the Oregon Department of Transportation's description, ending it at I-5.^[1]^[2]^[3]) Oregon Route 99W is known by ODOT as the Pacific Highway West (unsigned Oregon Highways 1W and 91); that highway continues north through downtown (along a former extension of Oregon Route 99W) to the Pacific Highway 1 (I-5) in northern Portland, as well as south on Oregon Route 99 to the Pacific Highway (I-5) in Eugene.

Until around 1972, Oregon Route 99W was U.S. Route 99W, rejoining Oregon Route 99E (former U.S. Route 99E) in northern Portland. U.S. Route 99 then continued north along present Interstate 5 into Washington; the next segment still numbered 99 is Washington State Route 99 south of Seattle.

1 Route description
- 1.1 Intersections with other highways
2 History
- 2.1 Old alignments
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Route description

The Pacific Highway West begins at the interchange with Interstate 5 (Pacific Highway) and Oregon Route 126 Business (McKenzie Highway) in eastern Eugene. It heads west through downtown Eugene along Oregon Route 99 and Oregon Route 126 Business, and then northwest and north to Junction City on Oregon Route 99.

At Junction City, Oregon Route 99 ends and Oregon Route 99W begins along the Pacific Highway West, while Oregon Route 99E heads northeast on the Albany-Junction City Highway. While Oregon Route 99E quickly crosses the Willamette River, Oregon Route 99W stays on its west side through the Willamette Valley, passing through towns such as Monroe, Corvallis, Monmouth, Rickreall, Amity, McMinnville and Lafayette. Oregon Route 18 provides a bypass for Oregon Route 99W around downtown McMinnville and Lafayette.

At McMinnville, Oregon Route 99W turns northeast. It passes through the winemaking towns of Dundee and Newberg before entering the Portland suburb of Sherwood. (There is a proposal to bypass these towns; see the Oregon Route 18 article for details.) It then skirts the city of Tualatin and passes through Tigard before entering Portland and immediately ending at Interstate 5.

The Pacific Highway West (Oregon Highway 1W) however continues northeast and north, paralleling I-5 on Barbur Boulevard. Oregon Route 10 joins at Capitol Highway. South of the Ross Island Bridge approach, Oregon Highway 1W and Oregon Route 10 split from Barbur Boulevard onto Naito Parkway, an almost-freeway that once connected directly to Harbor Drive. Oregon Route 10 ends at the west end of the Ross Island Bridge, which carries the Mt. Hood Highway and U.S. Route 26. Until around 2005, US 26 came off the bridge onto Oregon Highway 1W north into downtown Portland, but it now heads west on the locally-maintained Arthur Street to reach Interstate 405.

At the overpass over I-405 is the former split with Harbor Drive, which was replaced by Tom McCall Waterfront Park in 1974. The road now runs into Naito Parkway (formerly Front Avenue), and is state-maintained until Market Street, the eastbound half of the one-way pair of the Sunset Highway (US 26 left Highway 1W here prior to ca. 2005).

Oregon Highway 1W continues north through downtown, locally maintained along Naito Parkway, to the state-maintained Steel Bridge. There is a direct ramp for northbound traffic onto the bridge, but the former southbound ramp is now used by MAX light rail, and so southbound traffic must head west to 3rd Avenue, three blocks west of Naito Parkway.

At the northeast end of the Steel Bridge, Oregon Highway 1W again becomes locally maintained, and heads north on Interstate Avenue all the way to Interstate 5 (the Pacific Highway) near the Interstate Bridge. This is again state-maintained north of Argyle Street.

[edit] Intersections with other highways

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US 26, Oregon Route 10, Interstate 405 in Portland (a segment south of downtown is shared with Oregon 10)
I-5 in Portland, several times.
OR 217 in Tigard
OR 141 in Tigard
OR 219 in Newberg
OR 240 in Newberg
OR 18 and OR 223 in Dayton
OR 47 in McMinnville
OR 99W Spur in McMinnville
OR 18 again, in McMinnville
OR 233 again near Amity
OR 22 and OR 223 Spur north of in Rickreall
OR 51 in Monmouth
US 20 and OR 34 in Corvallis
OR 99 and OR 99E in Junction City

[edit] History

The first highway in the corridor was the Capitol Highway, Oregon Highway 3, from Portland to Salem via Dayton (roughly present Oregon Route 99W and Oregon Route 221). In 1927 it was merged with the West Side Highway, which ran from Dayton to Junction City, to form the West Side Pacific Highway, still numbered 3, and a western loop of the Pacific Highway (Oregon Highway 1/U.S. Route 99). (The former Capitol Highway south of Dayton was removed from the system, but was later taken over as the Salem-Dayton Highway.)

In 1930, Oregon Highway 3 was assigned the U.S. Route 99W number, and Oregon Highway 1 (old US 99) between the ends of Oregon Highway 3 became U.S. Route 99E. Oregon Highway 1 was similarly split in 1938, forming the Pacific Highway West - Oregon Highway 1W - and the Pacific Highway East, Oregon Highway 1E. Highway 1W was formed from Highway 3, and extended north on Interstate Avenue to just south of the Interstate Bridge.

In 1957, with the assignment of Interstate 5, the Pacific Highway (Oregon Highway 1) was moved to its planned alignment, resulting in an extension of Highway 1W south to Eugene. US 99W however continued to terminate at Junction City; the new I-5 was designated U.S. Route 99 when it opened in 1961. (US 99W from south of downtown Portland north to its end was temporarily part of US 99 from 1961 to 1963, when I-5 opened north of downtown.)

US 99 became Oregon Route 99 in 1972, resulting in the renumbering of US 99W to Oregon Route 99W. It was truncated in 1979 to I-5 just north of the Tigard/Portland line. It was again re-extended to south of downtown in 1996, but has since been re-truncated.

[edit] Old alignments

The original alignment in southern Portland, bypassed in the 1930s by Barbur Boulevard, is still called Capitol Highway. It begins at the present north end of Oregon Route 99W and runs first east, then west, of Oregon Highway 1W, eventually merging with Oregon Route 10 (formerly the Beaverton-Hillsdale Highway) before ending at Oregon Highway 1W south of downtown.

Through downtown Portland, the original alignment took US 99W across the Broadway Bridge, reaching it via 4th Avenue, Burnside Street, and Broadway northbound, and Broadway, Pine Street, and 6th Avenue southbound.^[4] In 1950 it was realigned along Harbor Drive, the Steel Bridge and a realigned Interstate Avenue. Harbor Drive was removed in 1972, resulting in Route 99W moving west one block to Front Street (now Naito Parkway) downtown.